Advanced Medicine

Although not a medical or scientific textbook, the Bible’s information predates man's discoveries in medicine. Thirty-five hundred years ago, the medical instructions given to Moses and then passed on to the Israelites were far superior to the practices of contemporary cultures. Further, they also surpassed medical standards up until only 100 years ago. Here are some examples:

The Israelites were to wash themselves and their clothes in running water if they had a bodily discharge or came in contact with another person's discharge. The same was true if they had touched a dead human or animal. In addition, they were instructed to wash any uncovered vessels found near a dead body. If anything dead came in contact with a vessel it was to be destroyed. Spoils of war were to be purified through either fire or running water. Finally, the Israelites were instructed to bury human waste outside their camp, and to burn the waste of their livestock (Numbers 19, Leviticus 11, 15, Deuteronomy 23:12, etc.).

Such sanitary practices undoubtedly saved countless Israeli lives through the destruction of unsuspected and unseen germs. In contrast, Egyptians were subjected to "medicines" that often included human or animal waste.

Sometimes even Bible skeptics may unwittingly point to scientific or medical knowledge in the Bible. An unnamed skeptic posted a message on a discussion board ridiculing verses in Leviticus 13 and 14 that listed leprosy on walls and on garments. He postulated this obvious error was silly as leprosy is a human disease. This skeptic apparently was unaware that leprosy is a bacterium which can certainly survive on walls and clothing. According to the Medic-Planet.com encyclopedia, leprosy "can survive three weeks or longer outside the human body, such as in dust or on clothing". When God commanded the Levitical priests to burn leper’s garments, He certainly knew what He was saying (Leviticus 13:52).